> And of course, there was John Glenn, monitored inside and out, blood tested, urine sampled, entire organism analyzed for signs of accelerated aging. Close observation of the Senator suggested that there might not be any medical obstacles to launching the entire legislative branch into space, possibly the most encouraging scientific result of the mission.

From https://idlewords.com/2005/08/a_rocket_to_nowhere.htm, which contains far better analysis of the politics of the STS program than I can provide.